I agree with what is said with purchasing an embroidery machine only or combo sewing/emb. machines. She needs to do her research and focus on what she will be using the machine for. Quilting, sewing, embroidery? Also prices do vary state to state and dealer to dealer. It is an expensive hobby, with threads, stabilizers, software and other items it can be costly. I also agree if she wants to embroider the 4x4 is a good one for beginners however as one continues the embroider the field may be too small to do larger embroidery. Its a matter of taste, $$$$, and contentment. I'm content with what I have now and won't change any of my machines at all. Oh let me add these photos of what I did over the weekend. Then again maybe not...it keeps telling me uploaded failed

I have a Viking SE and 4D Embroidery software. It's smarter than I am. I just can't seem to get my head around machine embroidery! So, I'll be interested in hearing about any hints everyone has.

You just have to keep up with it and do it on a reg basis...Did you get all the manuels with the 4D...What I did I went thru each book at a time and did it step by step to learn each...I'd be happy to help if you have any specific questions or problems...just PM and ask...

My cousin is interested in purchasing a new quilting / embroidery machine. I think that sewing and quilting will be the primary function, but she also wants to be able to do embroidery. Of course, she would also need software to use with it. She asked me to give her some advice as to what to purchase and we need to find her something that is under $1000 complete with software. I have an older Pfaff (a 7570) with Pfaff software and also use Embird for design work, and haven't looked at any of the new machines out there is several years, so I am at a loss as to advice.

I am looking to my QB friends for suggestions for a quilting/embroidery machine including software for under $1000? Can any of you make some suggestions or lead me to a site that can help? Thanks!

Maybe I can try to be clearer. My cousin wants to buy a new machine (not used) and would like to stay in the $1000.00 range for the purchase of the machine. She is not planning to digitize her own designs, but will buy them online. So, she needs a machine that can transfer designs from her computer to the machine without having to buy an expensive digitizing software. If she needs to convert or tweak designs we know that there is free and/or lower cost software to do that. She is aware of the costs of stabilizer, threads etc as I have an Pfaff embroidery machine myself. My machine is over 10 years old and I haven't looked at any of these type of machines since then, so I don't know what is available or good out there now.

As I live in a very rural area, our research has to start here on the Web as dealers are 2 to 6 hours drive away. Once we have narrowed down to a couple of machines, we could then travel to a dealership to actually test drive some machines.

What we are hoping that we would be able to get here on QB were some suggestions as to particular brand and models of machines that you think could fit her requirements. Then we could research those particular models in depth. So can anyone help us with actual brand/models that they like for primarily sewing, but can also do embroidery?

OH! Okay. She can find quite a few combo machines under that cost limit--new. My favorite is Brother. She will be able to find a model with port connection to her computer or for using a flash drive to transfer designs . The reason I like Brother machines is because they are so user friendly..have great features, and mine make the prettiest, easiest buttonholes of any machine I've ever owned. Just advise her to buy a model with larger hoops than a 4x4 only...she'll soon be wanting to trade up, otherwise. This is just MY opinion.

Well i love My Janomes. I would make sure that she is able to transfer designs from her PC to the machine via USB stick. My Janome 9700 is old school. The newer mdels Use USB.

I would check out all of the manufacturers websites to compare models. They will not tell you prices though. Head to www.patternreview.com and check out the embroidery machine reviews. They will often share the price paid but use this as general info. You will negotate the final price you will pay unless you finance the purchase, most likely.

Another avenue for checking out the MSRP price is to do a search on Ebay. Use this as a guide too. They only publish the manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) on ebay if new. Your final price should not be MSRP if you pay cash. Again, you negotiate.

By the way, the new machines listed on Ebay are bid on....check out the target price which is the "buy it now" price in small print under the current bid price
You will get many replies on favorite brands but it is a personal decision. Do a search on ths Board too. There a wealth of info in the arhives.

Keep a file on the models interested in and take lots of notes, ask questions.

One thing that I thought was important was the number of built in designs....it was not. I never use my built in embroidery designs . Fr me, a large hoop is not important. 5x7 s the max I use. It takes time to embroider. If the design takes more than 45 minutes, I dont do it. 45 minutes of stitching time transates into over an hour taking into consideration thread changes. I mostly do designs on tees ad polo shirts. I mostly sew on my machine.

Seems like a lot of work? You betcha! But so worth being informed before you show up at the dealer.
Sandy

I have ck with Viking Store and they told me no updates for this model which I'm thinking was discontinued...But now that you've said that I might send off an email to Husq directly and see if store was incorrect...Thanks..

If you look at the bottom of Vikings website you'll see where you can either email the software or hardware group. They are really good at getting back to you and helping find a solution. I work in the IT field and alot of things still aren't compatible with Win 7 and Win 8 came out so fast that it'll be awhile for some software to catch up and be compatible with it; plus I haven't heard a lot of people saying good things about Win 8; that could be an issue or that they just haven't played with it enough. Some have gotten their Win 7 to be set up with a dual boot and run XP on it as well. When you boot up you chose which system you want to run. I pulled my old XP out of the closet to use for some of my software but you can also still find some XP pcs out there fairly cheap.

I have a Viking SE and 4D Embroidery software. It's smarter than I am. I just can't seem to get my head around machine embroidery! So, I'll be interested in hearing about any hints everyone has.

I'm not sure what version of 4D you have or what modules. I know that the manuals that come with the software is limited but does have great tutorials in them. Depending on if you have a version other than the organizer that comes with it you can go on your pc under programs/4d Embroidery and you find reference materials, additonal info that came out after it was develeoped and then there are also Main Modules, this has the manuals that came with the software but a whole lot more, where the paper manual might be 50 pages the main modules PDF files are over a 100, you can even print them out if it's easier. Viking let me know about these and you'd be amazed the added infor in them. On thier website you can search and still find some info for your machine. There is also a great website called mrpatience.com, he has lots of free tutorials/videos on 4D and 5D (which are almost the same) plus he offers classes at a cost. This website was recommended to me by my embroidery teacher. What part of VA do you live in because the store that I take classes at is great. It would cost you 40 a yr for monthly emb club plus the cost of the kit for that month. You could also set up sessions with her for one on one if needed. She's great and has lots of knowlege on machines as well as the software; she was trained by Viking. Out of all the stores in my area they are the farthest away but my favorite and I have no problem traveling there because everyone on that store is great. If you have a certain question I'd be happy to see if I could find the answer with my books, personal experience or thru my teacher.

Ybradbury,
Check into Babylock. I used to own the Babylock Ellure Plus, a sewing/emb. combo machine with a 5x7 hoop. They are user friendly and it also takes a memory card and/or a usb port, i.e. usb flash drive. Check them out on babylock.com

I have a Janome 9700 and use it mostly for embrodery work. Use my Janome 1600 for sewing. All the above advice is great. Taking notes is a good idea. I believe a software that you can understand is very helpful. I have been looking for a different software myself.
Good luck in your search.

I have 2 Brother combo machines and I love them both.
My oldest (about 6 years old) is the Innov-Is 1000 largest hoop size is 5x7.
My newest machine which is almost 1 year old is the Innov-Is 1500D (the
"D" stands for Disney) and the largest hoops size is 6x10.

When I purchased the 1000 machine it cost $1500, but with some discounts
and such it ended up being $1200.

My 1500D machine was $3500, but with discounts and such cost was $2500
but by the time I left the store I had spent $3200 (thread, more stabilizers, etc.)

I could have gotten "trade-in" discount also IF I had wanted to give up my older
machine, but since I wanted to keep both I didn't that discount.

I also have a Janome MC3000 sewing machine (NO embroidery) and I totally
do NOT like that machine for me that was the biggest waste of money I had
spent, that taught me to NEVER buy a used machine, I could have added $50
and bought a new Janome.

Well you know what they say about hide sight.

I agree with everyone else, research, research, research, and take LOTS
of notes. Discover what kinds of features each machine has, and research
more about them. After your research is done take your list to the dealer
and "test" drive the machines.

DO NOT let them try to steer you towards a machine that is way out of
your budget, stick to your guns and your list.

I know MANY people who have the Brother PE770 & PE780D series machines
and love them. They are less expensive machines that are user friendly.

Here is a link to the Brother website if you want to read more about them.
BROTHER-USA